2010 isn't 2009

The 2009 season is dead. It should have been a long time ago, but now the Red Bulls have their sixth win surpassing their 2009 total putting the final nail in the 2009 coffin. That season is nothing but history now. Can we please move on? I’m talking to the people who saw that five win mark loom like a specter of foreboding, as if the Red Bulls were completely incapable of passing it. I heard mention of the Juan Carlos Osorio Line. What? Do we nothing but Mets/Jets fans making up the Red Bull faithful? Comparisons to last year should have ended a long time ago. Even the minor aesthetic changes of moving to Red Bull Arena should have been enough to erase the bad taste of 09 away. The dismantling of Santos, including Neymar, a future star we’re one day going to be able to tell our kids, “I saw him play,” also should have been enough. Then to top it all off, the Red Bull opened regular season play with a win over Chicago. Nevertheless, the naysayers eschewed the positives, focused on the negatives and saw the borderline impossibility of 22 straight games without a win, repeating last season. Never mind the additions of stud players like Joel Lindpere, games they should have won if not for poor officiating in New England ($2500 well spent Hans), and the likely fact that help is on the way after the World Cup in the form of one or two designated players. Oh and Angel has shown he’s still go the skills. These are the 2010 Red Bulls, a different team. As it stands right now they are second in the Eastern conference and have the fourth most points in all of MLS. Last I checked that’s pretty darn good.

* The attendance was disappointing Wednesday night. I wasn’t there, but I have classes and even made it home late. I think the issue is that the arena was built with the admirable idea that it would be accessible by mass transit. The problem is this benefits New Yorkers coming on the PATH that runs every 15-30 minutes more than Jersey folk especially considering NJ Transit recently cut it’s schedules that ran only every hour anyway. It’s no secret New Yorkers hate New Jersey, they hate travelling to New Jersey, thus they’re not coming. I say screw them, New Jersey rocks, they’re missing out. Anyway, I bet a large majority of the Red Bulls crowd is from New Jersey and it’s easier for them to drive. The Red Bulls would be wise to start pointing out the numerous parking options in nearby Newark that are a short walk from the Arena. Of course then they’d have to deal with the ridiculous suburbanite stigma that if you set foot in Newark you get stabbed. Well, this suburbanite can attest he has not been stabbed and has found the walk to be rather pleasant. All in all, Red Bull would be wise to look into constructing some parking for the future. Relying almost solely on Mass Transit looked brilliant on paper, but it was just impractical.

* Saw a replay of Brian Ching’s goal from the other night. Mike Petke get’s a pass, Ching looked offside.

* Jozy Altidore’s ankle injury throws a bit of a wrench into the final friendly against Australia. It would be wise to rest him, not risk reinjury. Buddle likely takes Altidore’s spot as the target striker, but then do you go with two unproven strikers, pairing him with Gomez or Findley, or do your pair Buddle with Dempsey? I know Bradley will likely do the latter, but I fear taking Dempsey off the wing knowing his value there.

* Watching the France-China friendly. So far the Henry is riding the bench. That comes as no surprise as he is supposed to be a supersub option